Hawaii is a lot like Japan. Yet in Japan, there is not the level of congestion found in Hawaii because the government there built rail mass transit.

Did anyone notice how the people shouting here are Hawaiians? You can tell by the lack of proper grammar and absurd capitalization of everything. These are the voters making the decisions ladies and gentlemen.

It seems like nothing of worth ever gets built in the US anymore because one group or another blocks it. I guarantee you that if a place as compact as Honolulu got a proper metro system with above ground and underground stations, it would decrease traffic. I also guarantee you that if Oahu had a proper train system for the entire island, that would also decrease traffic.

Those are big ideas, with the kind of big money that only the military stationed in Hawaii attracts.

Wow, e5dLoC4EaC. You are breathtakingly bigoted. And on top of that, you provide us with no evidence, nor do you make any compelling arguments, to support the contentions you put forward. Yet you claim to be a superior stakeholder due to your grasp of the English language? Your grammar may stand up to scrutiny, but your critical reasoning skills certainly don't.

My goodness, you're the type of person who once would have condemned giving the women the vote on the basis of their lack of education and low contributions to tax revunues. Without ever seeing the irony of your position.

I agree, I am bigoted. I also agree that I failed to provide a sound technical evaluation of my guarantees.

On the bigoted note, guilty as charged. However, if you live in Hawaii or other Pacific island possessions of the USA, you might also become bigoted. I do not trust the locals to make sound decisions for the future of their island.

As for the technical evaluation, I will tone it down. From what I have seen in NYC, London, and other major cities with a truly comprehensive city and regional heavy rail transit system; the effects are exponentially cumulative. The more lines you have, the more areas you reach, and the more interconnected you make the system with other transit systems, the more people use the system.

If you have one line, then yeah, not many people will use it. Add two, and the growth in ridership could be exponential, not geometric. Add a regional train system, and then you might really see results.

One more thing, I totally agree with not allowing people with low education or low IQ to vote. I would also not allow those without certain tax revenues to vote.

Why?

This is a Republic, not a Democracy. Why should people vote with no stake in the system? All they will do is vote for government handouts without any concern, because they do not pay for the handouts. Or they will simply make ignorant decisions, because they are either uneducated or too dumb.

Why should a hobo's vote count as much as Bill Gate's? That it does is a flaw, potentially fatal flaw, of our political system.

@e5dLoC4EaC I completely agree with you. I don't think that we know what we are talking about here in Hawaii. We should totally emulate the Japanese, because hey, we are an island just like them, so naturally it follows that we could benefit from emulating a rail system that has an on time average of around 85% and with a late time considered to be 15 seconds or more. An efficient system like that would be sure to reduce the congestion on our tiny island. If they are doing that in Japan, then surely the rail systems in your neighborhood should be doing 100% on time, because hard go getter Americans like yourself must sure that nothing less is accepted. I would even go so far to say that you should throw in an application to run the project. Your knowledge and vast experience with rail systems and congestion reducing acumen would surely be a great asset to us, the undereducated government tit-sucking ignorant locals with terrible grammar skills, when it comes to the major island changing ideas, because man, what do we know anyway? Plus with your piles of cash laying around (I assume you have stacks upon stacks of it, because you practice the sacred rite of voting, which should be reserved only for the affluent) you could help fund the project, because it will be something that you could be proud of because of the guaranty of efficiency We shouldn't be in charge of our own decision making, because that would be un-American for us the poor beggars and beach combing hobos to have a say in such important matters. Shoot, you probably have a phd in problem solving for the under represented like us. Only the higher educated, justifiably racist and elitist people, such as yourself, should be allowed to make these decisions. Keep Trolling, yo, because you do it so well.

A troll says things he/she does not believe in to anger others for the sole purpose of angering them. I believe what I wrote, so I am not a "troll".

Let me ask you some questions for your rumination.

Do you think someone like "UncleMSK" below should have the same amount of political franchise as you or I?

We spend trillions on the military. We also spend trillions on entitlement programs. Why can the federal government not spend hundreds of millions on public works programs that enhance quality of life for all?

Think about this. We have 11 active aircraft carriers to China's 0, yet we build more for some potential future war....which would most likely occur over Taiwan. We still spend billions on our armed forces in Japan, which is probably a reason why they get to build those trains.

Of course, we spend billions on these entitlement programs that merely maintain a shabby status quo, without really propelling Hawaii or the nation forward.

Yet a project worth 2 billion is seen as a massive waste of money. Weren't we spending about 1 billion a day in Iraq at one point?

Ok, now the newest "Imua Rail" claims JOBS! JOBS? When it has been a proven FACT that 41% of all the jobs to be created by this rail is OUT OF STATE!
AND - my expectation - of that 41%, MOST if not ALL those jobs are the HIGHEST PAY of all the jobs - Supervisors, Management, and LEAD Engineers (NOT the one that the ad says as Right out of UH and "...being able to stay home..") which means THE MOST PROFIT of OUR City TAX MONEY is going OUT OF STATE!
REALIZE - that is 41% - FORTY ONE PERCENT! WHY is it that it was presented as a project to create jobs when almost HALF is OUT OF STATE? Why not at LEAST 75% IN STATE and 25% OUT? (In other words, for every 3 IN STATE, 1 OUT.)
I think most people would agree that WE DO HAVE MOST, (*maybe not all), but MOST of the capabilities to be able to do this, so WHY SO MANY POSITIONS going OUT OF STATE?
For me, I think since we HAVE most of the capabilities, design, planning, technological and constructional skills, that 80% should be here, 8 local, TWO out... not a 59%/41% - for every 11 local, more than 8 OUT?
Talk IS cheap - WANT SELF SUSTAINABILITY and SELF SUFFICIENCY - then this is sending the exact OPPOSITE message of sending jobs OUTSIDE - That is NOT "SELF" ANYTHING!

EVERY "Imua Rail" is a DOUBLE-TALKING AD CONJURED UP by IDIOTS!
FIRST AD - Supposed STUDENT riding TheBus - so BIG questions: a) WHICH school is she going to? ANSWER - IF a PRIVATE HS, a PUBLIC OUT OF DISTRICT HS,or ANY college, then ANY are a matter of CHOICE! YOU choose YOUR DESTINY/DESTINATION! And if UH Manoa - then RAIL will ONLY GO tO ALA MOANA, then you have to cross through the ENTIRE Shopping Center to get to TheBus! Now WHY would ANY STUDENT want to do THAT instead of getting on TheBus and TRASNFERRING in over a DOZEN different points?
2) Ad claims "expanded" TheBus which is "The Best" system in teh country! LIE - FTA just dia a tri-annual report and we were told by DTS "..we got a B- or C+.." and ".. at least we didn't FAIL"! So is THAT THE BEST? NO! EXPANDEDD? ELIMINATING STOPS since about 3-5 YEARS ago, adn now - eliminating ROUTES! Is THAT "EXPANDING"?
3) "Grandma" says "less cars on the road so cleaner air for my grandkids, and we can power it with our tradewinds and the sun.." So we are going to build those HUGE wind turbines now ALL OVER THE ISLAND or put SOLAR PANELS on EVERY BUILDING? do they think we ALL do NOT understand HOW MANY WIND TURBINES or HOW MANY SOLAR PANELS it will take to power a HEAVY RAIL STEEL-On-STEEL?
Lastly, currently as a para-transit rider, this is ADA certified. But ABOVE GROUND so what happens when you FORCE physically & mentally challlenged persons to ride the rail after cutting back para-transit, then forcing them to ride TheBus, then eliminate Bus routes to FORCE them to now ride the rail, then the RAIL FAILS? Now already stressed with the closure of HMC-West, you now are going to ADD further STRESS on EMT'S, HFD, and HPD in order to help these persons? PLAIN STUPIDITY and as always - JUMPING without THINKING of CONSEQUENCES! But there is (now shoing!) a "NETWORK" of Pro Rail Companies, Individuals, and even CITY COUNCIL! (a $60k AND another $5k "JOB" EXPOSED of a COUNCIL MEMBER!) So you think that things will NOT be found? I want ON RECORD ALL Pro Rail people on a LIST, so IF this actually goes through - I want EVERY ONE of THEM to PAY FOR IT! Look at all the CITIES on the MAINLAND that are going BANKRUPT with only MILLIONS in debt - and this is a $5.6 BILLION project of which the ENTIRE TAX PAYING population is LESS THAN EVERY ONE of THEM! MILLIONS vs. BILLIONS, and LESS PEOPLE to PAY FOR IT?

It seems to me the problem with rail projects in America is that people don't ride trains so they don't make sense economically so they aren't built so people keep relying on cars and so people don't ride trains. A vicious cycle you see!

Compare, for instance, the Los Angeles Metro system to the little known Calgary C-Train. The former is almost three times as long and serves a population almost 4 times bigger on a city limits basis and almost 13 times bigger on a metro basis. But its ridership is only 30% bigger. Of course the economics of LA's transit system are going to be terrible! Hardly anybody uses it!

But the reasons they don't use it aren't immediately clear. LA is in fact a more densely populated city than Calgary, over twice as dense in the city-proper. The real reason the LA Metro is underutilized, in my opinion at least, is that most people in LA have alternatives that they like better. Why would someone who's been driving to work all their life suddenly start riding the train with a bunch of poor people when it's inconvenient and generally unpleasant? Calgary's secret is that it has forced people to ride the train. There is simply not enough parking downtown for anywhere near the number of workers. Because it's been that way for so long there is very little stigma involved with riding the bus or train - about half the downtown workforce use transit every day.

If I'm trying to make a point in this rambling mess it's this: just building a train won't fix Honolulu's problems. Despite what they say, people will sit in traffic for hours rather than start riding the train after a lifetime of driving.

The only way a project like this is likely to succeed is if the state increased the cost of driving to work somehow. In Calgary's case this was done by limiting parking. In Hawaii's case it could be done by jacking up fuel prices or car import prices or registration prices or having a congestion charge or something along those lines. I don't know the politics of Hawaii very well, but in the American states I am familiar with all of these ideas would be political suicide. Therefore I have little hope that they will be put into effect or that this rail line will be successful.

Why LA based people do NOT ride rail transit? Because (as was told by one of my former managers) HE lives near Pasadena, and works near Buena Park. NO Rail goes anywhere NEAR EITHER of his end points, so he drives EVERY DAY, and DOES NOT drive when he does NOT HAVE to go in to the office! BUT now the company he works for has allowed he and his counterparts to do "TELECOMMUNICATIONS", so he now goes in to the office only twice a week. THAT saves him COST, GAS, TIME. WE need to learn THAT and bring the 21st CENTURY into our city, and not something that was proposed more than 40 years ago!
I also believe that we should take LESSONS from LA and at certain ON RAMPS here, REGULATE with TARFFIC lights cars entering the freeway. EXAMPLE of a PERFECT on-ramp: Queens with Kinau EAST on-ramp MERGING with ANOTHER on-ramp, two lanes merging into the freeway AT THE SAME PLACE! BOTH should be REGULATED like LA with ONE CAR per GREEN, and in THAT way, we don't get TEN cars trying to "fit" (aka; FORCE!) their way in on the freeway in ONE CAR SPACE!

Why LA based people do NOT ride rail transit? Because (as was told by one of my former managers) HE lives near Pasadena, and works near Buena Park. NO Rail goes anywhere NEAR EITHER of his end points, so he drives EVERY DAY, and DOES NOT drive when he does NOT HAVE to go in to the office! BUT now the company he works for has allowed he and his counterparts to do "TELECOMMUNICATIONS", so he now goes in to the office only twice a week. THAT saves him COST, GAS, TIME. WE need to learn THAT and bring the 21st CENTURY into our city, and not something that was proposed more than 40 years ago!
I also believe that we should take LESSONS from LA and at certain ON RAMPS here, REGULATE with TRAFFIC lights for cars entering the freeway. EXAMPLE of a PERFECT on-ramp: Queens with Kinau EAST on-ramp MERGING with ANOTHER on-ramp, two lanes merging into the freeway AT THE SAME PLACE and BOTH lanes END! BOTH should be REGULATED like LA with ONE CAR per GREEN, and in THAT way, we don't get TEN cars trying to "fit" (aka; FORCE!) their way in on the freeway in ONE CAR SPACE! THAT causes MAJOR TRAFFIC BUILD UP!

Well aren't you a commie Obama loving gun hating euro! Now you gonna make me give up my Pickup and make me ride the train with them Illegals and other poor, minorities and them fo-rigners! B-sides that could tie up traffic and them trains make noise! If you want socialist transport move to comie-Urop!

----> That mentality is why we cant get even public transport in this country! I'm ashamed for my fellow countrymen! :(

Well no matter WHAT YOU say - take a look at how people get out of their cars - Los Angeles HAS Mass Transit - Busses, MANY Shuttle Vans, RAIL, and YET - people sit in traffic sometimes for up to 4 HOURS!
So no matter what YOU say, people WILL DRIVE their cars!
Oh and BTW - Hopefully you don't have kids or grandkids, because the SUPPOSED MANDATED REQUIREMENT of both the City AND State - PUBLIC SAFETY! WHY is that PERTINENT? The State cuts SCHOOL BUS ROUTES, the CITY cuts stops and now ROUTES, forcing the kids AND the elderly, our KUPUNA, to WALK FARTHER! Yeah - sure sounds like SAFE to ME - ESPECIALLY when these PREDATORS STALK in BROAD DAYLIGHT and RIGHT OUTSIDE the SCHOOLS, NOT even a BLOCK AWAY! REAL SAFE! So you think if I was a PARENT I would let MY KID to WALK, ESPECIALLY since this rail goes NOWHERE NEAR ANY SCHOOL? THINK ABOUT IT before you SHOOT OFF YOUR MOUTH, or I pray that YOU DON'T have ANY KIDS or GRANDKIDS, or an ELDERLY MOTHER, FATHER, or any other elder relative/Kupuna - OR - YOU BETTER RIDE THE RAIL WITH THEM because I AM NOT going to watch over YOUR OBLIGATIONS! YOUR kid/grandkid/kupuna gets KIDNAPPED, MOLESTED, MURDERED - YOUR FAULT and YOU take the blame for that, as does EVERY ONE that IS PRo Rail! SAFE? BS! Money in POCKET? You BET!

Anyone living in Honolulu who knows the actual FACTS of what a big lie, con job and outrageously out of scale project the Sen. Dan Inouye pushed Personal Monument to Danny Warbucks (Inouye) -- will be voting for Gov. Ben Cayetano for Mayor.